passion
Finding your passion can be such a confusing feat. But the thing is, if you’re truly passionate about something, chances are: you’re already doing it.

passion

There were times when I tried to ‘find’ my passion. And on some occasions, I might have told one of you to ‘find’ yours. I was wrong. And I’m sorry.

The thing is, ‘finding’ my passion had been a struggle. I love doing many different things and learning many different things that I came to love. I love reading, and writing, and making arts. I love cooking, and dancing, and writing tiny proses. I love teaching, and traveling, and taking pictures. Recently, I took up water-coloring, brush-lettering, and knitting.

Am I multi-passionate, or am I confused?

The answer hit me as I was doing #WhatILearned, a 21-Day Challenge to document a single thing I’ve learned about life, every single day, for 21 days.

Maybe, we don’t find our passion.
Maybe, we are already doing it.

Here’s the thing: if we are truly passionate about something, we’ll be doing it; despite.

Because we are so passionate about it, despite our busy schedule–still, we do it. Because we’re so passionate about it, despite not getting the approval from our loved ones–still, we do it. Because we’re so passionate about it, despite being extra tired after two days of working overtime–still, we do it. Because we’re so passionate about it, despite being badly heart-broken–still, we do it.

Maybe passion is not something you’d like to do, nor something you would steal time for, sacrifice your sleep for, or spend money and energy on. Maybe passion is something you have always been doing, every single day, despite all odds.

You’ve stolen some time for it.
You’ve sacrificed your sleep for it.
You’ve spent some money and energy on it.

For me, this means reading and sharing.

I don’t always make time for the rest. For the rest, like cooking or traveling, or even writing, I can be too busy, too tired, or too demotivated. I like doing them, but I can find many excuses not to. I enjoy doing them, but sometimes they can be too demanding.

Reading about something and sharing what I have read/learned in many different ways (either through a picture, a conversation, a text, a video, an audio recording, a WhatsApp message)–these are the things I have always done every single day. These are the things I make time for.

What are the things you’ve made time for, despite?
Your passion might have been staring back at you right there all along.

hanny

15 Responses

  1. Like the old song, “when I’m not near the girl I love, I love the girl I’m near.” I often wondered what life would have been like if I had been passionate about just “one” thing — but when I’m not doing what I love, I often love what I am doing.

    1. this is such a sweet sentiment :’) and I truly understand what you meant by it! thanks for sharing!

  2. Wow, this touches me my heart. Somehow, i feel connected to you by reading your blog posts. I hope i can get the books that you’ve written soon! Lots of love from Singapore! x

  3. Thank you for this uplifting post! Because I’m struggling to find my passion. But, yet I just can’t find something that I’m doing it even if it has to steal my sleep hours or having an arguments with my parents. But this post really teach me and open my mind for “how to find your passion”. Thank you thank you thank you so much! it helps a lot.

    1. Hi, Janice! I would say: take some time to record the things you do on a daily basis, and see a pattern on which activities you always/often do throughout the weeks 🙂 You might find a gem somewhere there 😉 I hope you’ll see that gem soon enough, I know it’s there inside of you. Thanks for leaving your traces! xx

  4. Hi, I enjoyed reading your post a lot. I made me think of my own life, and I always think to myself “what will I do when I’m older, and will I be happy?”, but I realized I’m currently doing a lot of hobbies that already make me happy. I am following my dreams.
    Thank you. 🙂

  5. Bener juga ya mbak, saya tidak pernah berpikiran mengenai kemungkinan telah atau sedang melakukan passion yang selama ini terus saya cari, makasih udah berbagi pemikirannya mbak, Oh ya artikel whatilearned-nya saya juga suka mbak

If you made it this, far, please say 'hi'. It really means a lot to me! :)

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I am an Indonesian writer/artist/illustrator and stationery web shop owner (Cafe Analog) based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I love facilitating writing/creative workshops and retreats, especially when they are tied to self-exploration and self-expression. In Indonesian, 'beradadisini' means being here. So, here I am, documenting life—one word at a time.

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